Kristiina Loit Pärnu Coeducational Gymnasium G1A

 officially known as the Games of the XXX Olympiad, are due to be celebrated in London from 27 July to 12 August  London will become the first city to officially host the modern Olympic Games three times, having previously done so in 1908 and in 1948.

 By the bid submission deadline of 15 July 2003, nine cities had submitted bids to host the 2012 Olympics. These cities were Havana, Istanbul, Leipzig, London, Madrid, Moscow, New York, Paris and Rio de Janeiro.  On 18 May 2004, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), as a result of a scored technical evaluation, reduced the number of cities to five: London, Madrid, Moscow, New York, and Paris.  In December 2005 it was alleged by Alex Gilady, a senior IOC official, that London had won the right to host the Olympics only because of a voting error.

 The London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games was created to oversee the staging of the Games after the success of the bid, and held their first board meeting on 7 October  The committee, chaired by Lord Coe, is in charge of implementing and staging the games, while the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) is in charge of the construction of the venues and infrastructure.

 The 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will use a mixture of new venues, existing and historic facilities, and temporary facilities, some of them in well-known locations such as Hyde Park and Horse Guards Parade.  In the wake of the problems that plagued the Millennium Dome, the organisers' intention is that there will be no white elephants after the Games and instead that a "2012 legacy" will be delivered.  Some of the new facilities will be reused in their Olympic form, while others, including the 80,000 seater main stadium, will be reduced in size and several will be relocated elsewhere in the UK.

 The costs of mounting the Games are separate from those for building the venues and infrastructure, and redeveloping the land for the Olympic Park.  While the Games are privately funded, the venues and Park costs are met largely by public money.  The costs for staging the Games (£2 billion) are funded from the private sector by a combination of sponsorship, merchandising, ticketing and broadcast rights.  This budget is raised and managed by the London 2012 Organising Committee.

 marked the moment when the previous games in Beijing in 2008 handed over the Olympic Flag to the new host city of London.  Mayor of London Boris Johnson received the flag from Mayor of Beijing Guo Jinlong, on behalf of London.  The handover ceremony featured the urban dance group ZooNation, the Royal Ballet and Candoco, a disabled dance group dressed as typical London commuters waiting for a bus by a zebra crossing. A double-decker bus drove around the stadium to music composed by Philip Sheppard eventually stopping and transforming into a privet hedge featuring famous London landmarks such as Tower Bridge, The Gherkin and the London Eye.

 London's bid featured 28 sports, in line with other recent Summer Olympics, but the IOC voted to drop baseball and softball from the 2012 Games two days after it selected London as the host city.  The sports considered were karate, squash, golf, roller sports and rugby.  Karate and squash were the two final nominees, but neither received enough votes to reach the required two-thirds majority.  Women's boxing, which was not included in Beijing, is again being considered for inclusion.

 There have been two London 2012 logos: one for the bidding process created by Kino Design and a second as the brand for the Games themselves.  The latter, designed by Wolff Olins, was unveiled on 4 June 2007 and cost £400,000.  This new logo is a representation of the number 2012, with the Olympic Rings embedded within the zero.  This will be the first time that the same essential logo is to be used for both the Olympic and Paralympic games.

 The standard colours are green, magenta, orange and blue; however the logo has incorporated a variety of colours, including the Union Flag to promote the handover ceremony.  London 2012 has stated that the new logo is aimed at reaching young people.  Sebastian Coe stated that it builds upon everything that the organising committee has said "about reaching out and engaging young people, which is where our challenge is over the next five years".